FBI offers reward for clues in Baghdad contractor slaying

Security guards reported seeing James Kitterman's car leave the U.S. Consulate compound in Baghdad. His body was found the next day in the Green Zone.

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Agency wants help in solving a 2009 killing in Baghdad's Green Zone

Government contractor James Kitterman was found dead in car

He owned a construction company that employed workers from U.S., Philippines

FBI is offering $20,000

The FBI hopes a $20,000 reward will help solve the 2009 slaying of James Kitterman, a government contractor who was found dead in his car in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Kitterman was a 60-year-old Texan who owned Peregrine Eyes, a construction company that was building a helipad at the U.S. Consulate, according to the FBI.

He was last seen alive on the evening of May 21, 2009, inside the Green Zone, a high-security district. Local security guards reported seeing Kitterman's car leave the compound at 11 p.m. that night. His body was found the next day in the Green Zone.

Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the FBI, said Friday that "the manner in which the murder was carried out has not been released." CNN reported in June 2009 that Kitterman was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed.

His now-defunct company had about 45 employees that were primarily from the United States and Philippines, the FBI said.

The agency has distributed posters in Arabic and Tagalog announcing the award money for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible, because it believes a former employee may have some clues.

"The investigation itself has included hundreds of interviews during the past five years with potential witnesses in the U.S., Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines, but despite that we still need the public's help," the FBI said.

The reward is for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death, the agency said.